Commercial Natural Gas Rates by State (2026): Price per Mcf & Therm
The U.S. average commercial natural gas price was about $10.97 per thousand cubic feet. Compare current commercial natural gas rates by state, understand $/Mcf vs $/therm, and learn how businesses in choice states lock in below the utility default.
Last updated: 2026-07-18
Natural gas is the workhorse fuel for commercial heating, hot water, cooking, and process loads — and unlike the volatile spot market headlines suggest, what a business actually pays is a blend of a low commodity cost and a much larger delivery and margin stack. The U.S. average commercial natural gas price was about $10.97 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) in 2025, per the U.S. Energy Information Administration, even as the underlying Henry Hub benchmark averaged well under $4 per MMBtu. That gap — between the wholesale commodity and the delivered commercial price — is exactly where procurement strategy lives.
This guide publishes EIA commercial natural gas prices by state, explains the units on your bill ($/Mcf, $/therm, $/Dth), and shows how businesses in natural gas choice states shop the commodity portion to beat the utility's default rate. We refresh this page as EIA releases new data.
Commercial Natural Gas Rates by State (2026)
The table below shows the average commercial-sector natural gas price by state in dollars per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), from EIA's most recent annual dataset (2025). Some states are marked NA — EIA withholds figures where too few suppliers report, to protect confidentiality. For those states (including several deregulated markets like Maryland, New Jersey, and Rhode Island), use the utility's published commercial "price to compare" as your benchmark instead.
| State | Commercial $/Mcf | Gas Choice for Business |
|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | 39.04 | No |
| Massachusetts | 17.50 | Yes |
| California | 16.56 | Limited |
| District of Columbia | 14.36 | Yes |
| Washington | 14.30 | No |
| Alabama | 13.40 | No |
| New Hampshire | 13.47 | Yes |
| North Carolina | 12.71 | No |
| Pennsylvania | 12.57 | Yes |
| Louisiana | 12.57 | No |
| Oregon | 12.21 | No |
| Florida | 12.19 | Limited |
| Delaware | 12.17 | Yes |
| Alaska | 11.98 | No |
| Kansas | 11.90 | No |
| South Carolina | 11.73 | No |
| New York | 11.47 | Yes |
| Virginia | 11.18 | Yes |
| Kentucky | 11.06 | No |
| Texas | 10.98 | Yes |
| Arkansas | 10.70 | No |
| Connecticut | 10.71 | Yes |
| Tennessee | 10.45 | No |
| Oklahoma | 10.34 | No |
| Georgia | 10.06 | Yes (fully deregulated) |
| Illinois | 9.63 | Yes |
| Michigan | 9.53 | Yes |
| Arizona | 9.39 | Limited |
| Colorado | 9.09 | No |
| Indiana | 8.64 | Yes |
| Montana | 8.59 | No |
| Nebraska | 8.45 | No |
| Utah | 8.31 | No |
| Ohio | 8.29 | Yes |
| Wisconsin | 8.29 | No |
| Iowa | 8.27 | No |
| Wyoming | 8.22 | No |
| Vermont | 7.76 | No |
| South Dakota | 7.63 | No |
| Nevada | 7.51 | No |
| North Dakota | 7.14 | No |
| Idaho | 6.51 | No |
| New Mexico | 6.34 | No |
| Maine | NA | Yes |
| Maryland | NA | Yes |
| Minnesota | NA | No |
| Missouri | NA | No |
| New Jersey | NA | Yes |
| Rhode Island | NA | Yes |
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Commercial Price by State (2025 annual). NA = data withheld by EIA. U.S. average: $10.97/Mcf.
Understanding Your Units: Mcf, Therm, and Dth
Commercial gas bills use several units, and confusing them leads to bad price comparisons:
- Mcf = one thousand cubic feet of gas (the unit EIA reports above).
- Therm = 100,000 BTU. One Mcf ≈ 10.3–10.4 therms, so a $10.97/Mcf commercial price is roughly $1.05–$1.07 per therm.
- Dth (Dekatherm) = 10 therms = 1 MMBtu ≈ 0.97 Mcf. Suppliers often quote per Dth or per therm; utilities often bill per Ccf (100 cubic feet) or therm.
When you compare a supplier quote to your utility rate, convert everything to the same unit first. A quote of "$0.65/therm" is a supply-only commodity price — it does not include the utility delivery charge, which is regulated and appears separately. See natural gas delivery vs. supply charges and how to read your commercial gas bill.
Why Commercial Gas Prices Vary So Much by State
The spread from ~$6.34/Mcf (New Mexico) to $17.50 (Massachusetts) — nearly 3x — is driven by:
- Pipeline access and constraints. Producing states and those near major pipelines (New Mexico, the Mountain West, the Midwest) enjoy low delivered costs. New England sits at the end of constrained pipelines and pays a premium, especially in winter when heating demand competes with power generation. See natural gas pipeline capacity business impact.
- LNG export pull. Growing U.S. LNG exports — forecast to rise from about 17.4 Bcf/d in 2026 to 18.6 Bcf/d in 2027 — add demand that can firm up domestic prices. See LNG exports and domestic natural gas prices.
- Utility delivery margins. The regulated delivery charge — which you cannot shop — varies widely by utility and is often the largest component of a commercial bill.
How Businesses Beat the Default Rate
Georgia is fully deregulated for gas (there is no default utility supplier — every business must choose a marketer), and 13 other states plus D.C. offer commercial gas choice. In those markets, shopping the commodity portion is how businesses control cost:
- Lock a fixed commodity rate to insulate against winter price spikes. See winter natural gas price protection and our Winter 2026–2027 gas price outlook.
- Buy in shoulder months. Forward gas prices are typically softest in spring and fall. See shoulder-month gas purchasing.
- Watch fixed vs. variable. A variable rate can look cheap in summer and punish you in January. See fixed vs. variable rate natural gas contracts.
- Compare multiple licensed marketers. See comparing natural gas supplier offers and questions to ask natural gas suppliers.
State-specific playbooks: Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Georgia, and Michigan.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average commercial natural gas price in 2026? About $10.97 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) nationally, per EIA's latest annual data — roughly $1.05 per therm. State averages range from about $6.34/Mcf (New Mexico) to $17.50 (Massachusetts), excluding Hawaii.
Why is the commercial price so much higher than Henry Hub? Henry Hub (~$3.67/MMBtu forecast for 2026) is the wholesale commodity benchmark. Your delivered commercial price adds utility delivery charges, taxes, supplier margin, and pipeline/basis costs — which together typically exceed the commodity itself.
How do I convert my supplier's per-therm quote to compare with the utility? One Mcf ≈ 10.35 therms. Multiply a $/therm quote by ~10.35 to get $/Mcf, then add the utility's delivery charge (which the supplier quote excludes) to compare against your all-in cost.
Which states let businesses choose their gas supplier? Georgia (fully deregulated), plus CT, DE, IL, IN, ME, MD, MA, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, VA, TX, and D.C. offer commercial gas choice through their local utilities' "customer choice" programs.
Want to know if you're overpaying for gas supply? Request a free commercial gas rate review or call 833-264-7776.
Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Commercial Price by State (2025 annual); EIA Short-Term Energy Outlook (July 2026), Henry Hub and LNG export forecasts.
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